Aerodynamics FYP

[Aeroguy92]

Hi guys, I'm about to start my final year at uni this year which means I have my dissertation coming up... I'm really interested in basing it on automotive aerodynamics but instead of the generic 'F1 wing study', I'd like to focus it more on modern problems/issues surrounding aerodynamics whether it be F1 or road cars.. Thus far I have been struggling to come up with an idea that hasn't been done 100's of times before... I was posting to see if any of you guys could bounce some fresh ideas around... The only downside to all of this is I only have access to CFD software...

Thanks..

[CAEdevice]

You could take part to the last races of KVRC2015 (or first race of KVRC2016) and describe your experience as a dissertation.

Needed:
- good knowledge of racing car aero concepts
- good skills in CAD modeling
- a basic experience in CFD computing

You will find much more information into the dedicated thread.

[Aeroguy92]

Thats a very good idea! Thankyou.... But would i need to gather a small team of people to carry out that idea?

[scarbs]

F1 concerns itself mainly with the issue of front tyre wake. Looking at that in yaw or steer would be of use. DRS effect is also a neat isolated study. For LMP cars try studying the effect of a wheel spinning within a wheel arch?

[autogyro]

Stretching him a bit scarbs?

[Tim.Wright]

There is an interesting thread here about the role of ground effects on "dirty air" and its effects overtaking:
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... &start=135

Unfortunately no-one have any proper studies to go by and are using random CFD images which are dubiously useful in trying to conclude anything.

So why not do a study into a clean downforce producing shape that is not affected by dirty air like the current designs are?

A study like this really needs to be done and if you do a well enough job the FIA might be interested in further analysis to help guide future rule changes.

[Aeroguy92]

Thankyou for the fast responses guys! Tim thats an excellent suggestion but would i be biting off more than i can chew with something like that for an undergraduate project?

[Tim.Wright]

Not really, start with simple shapes:


one with a wing, one with a tunnel and run an analysis on 2 cars running nose to tail and measure the downforce ratio of the leading car to the second car.

Only then, once you've got this methodology sorted, you can step by step add the necessary complications to improve the model accuracy (rotating wheels, accurate floor, rolling road etc).

Would make for interesting reading.

[matt21]

Also, the structure of surfaces (rough, smooth, textured) is not investigated a lot, afaik.

[Aeroguy92]

Thank you for your advise Tim, I'd better start brushing up on my CAD skills to take on something like that.. I like the idea of starting simple & gradually increasing the model complexity..

I suppose that idea could be adapted for road vehicles on high speed roads with dual lanes, investigating wake flows & fuel efficiency..

[Aeroguy92]

Thankyou for the advice Tim, i'd better start brushing up on my CAD skills before taking on something like this.. I like the idea of starting off with a simple model & then progressively adding complexity..

I suppose that this idea could be adapted to road vehicle, studying the effects of wake flows/dirty air on fuel efficiency on high speed dual lane roads..

[Tim.Wright]

The study of drag reduction for a train of autonomous cars would be useful.

But then again its not racecar...

Do the frikken racecar dirty air study. Everyone are talking about this wings vs ground effect deal with absolutely nothing to back it up. The reason that we are in the predicament that we are in now in terms of the messy F1 rules is because nothing is ever properly researched before its put into the rules.

[Aeroguy92]

My only concerns are where I'd actually begin with it, & creating the actual CAD models...

[n_anirudh]

Not really, start with simple shapes:
http://www.consultkeithyoung.com/media/ ... y_View.png

one with a wing, one with a tunnel and run an analysis on 2 cars running nose to tail and measure the downforce ratio of the leading car to the second car.

Only then, once you've got this methodology sorted, you can step by step add the necessary complications to improve the model accuracy (rotating wheels, accurate floor, rolling road etc).

Would make for interesting reading.

...building on.

Perhaps start with Ahmed body as your base model and tweak your diffusers etc from there on. Lots of literature is already available. It might give you a bigger scope of looking at aero of road cars as well.

[Aeroguy92]

I have been doing a lot of research/background work on this idea. I think that there is a lot more to designing an under body with venturi's to exploit ground effect, the whole vehicle design would have to be taken into consideration. I think maybe a flow analysis outlining the downforces losses experienced on upper body wings would be beneficial? What do you guys think??